Lawe's Justice (31 page)

There wasn’t a chance in hell he would ever step back if that were the case.

But she was better at what they were doing than Thor was. She knew how to listen, how to talk to women and how to put men at ease. Thor’s size alone intimidated everyone. Emma and Sharone were Breeds, and the fact that the information they had acquired so far had been stolen by listening to conversations, rumors and suspicions before being pieced together, just frustrated her.

She watched Lawe’s jaw tighten, saw the denial in his eyes, though he didn’t voice it. The muscle in his jaw jerked as he glared back at her for long, silent seconds.

The tension in the room was palpable. His gaze moved to Rachel’s, and Diane knew what he saw there, knew the plea that filled her sister’s face, while Jonas had moved away, turning his back to the exchange.

Diane stared at him.

He was gripping the back of a chair with claws that had retracted and pierced the upholstery. Smears of blood from the sharp-tipped protrusions showed against his cuticles as he glared at them.

He was forcibly distancing himself. He could order Lawe to allow it, he could convince him to, but he wouldn’t give into the urge to do just that. At least not yet. She knew his devotion to his mate and to the child he called his own. He would do it if he considered it the only option but only if all other options had been extinguished.

Diane closed her eyes for a second, praying for strength. He was going to make her crazy before the night was over, let alone the mission.

This was their last chance. She could feel it.

If he wasn’t willing to bend now, when the situation was so desperate, then there would never be a chance that he would allow her to participate in protecting their own child if such a situation ever arose.

“Don’t,” she whispered despairingly. “Don’t make me hate you, Lawe, because you stood in the way of saving my niece. I’ll never forgive you.”

It was no longer a game. Facing her mate, facing the battle that never seemed to end, she realized she’d had enough.

Thor could do this without her. He had before. But it was
her
niece. She needed to be a part of this.

Lawe’s gaze locked with hers as she watched the struggle that waged in his expression as primal fury flashed in his icy gaze and lightened it further.

His eyes were such a flaming blue now that she swore she could see the animal raging inside him, demanding supremacy. Demanding that the man protect, dominate, and use whatever means necessary to ensure his mate’s well-being.

“I want to hear your plan first,” Lawe growled.

She stared at him in shock. He hadn’t just said that. Had he?

“Lawe?” Jonas’s head jerked up, his gaze intent, the silver depths suddenly seeming to shimmer, to shift in light and color until they almost seemed reflective.

Lawe’s expression was torn, tormented. “You’re right, Jonas. It’s the wrong time for this battle between me and my mate. She keeps telling me that, and I keep refusing to understand. Until now,” he stated heavily. “She’s doing nothing I wouldn’t do in her place. Hell, I would have shot me long before now if I were my mate, for standing in my way.”

Diane’s lips parted, hope surging inside her now.

She harbored no illusion that this could be the start of an attempt to compromise, because she knew better. Lawe’s devotion to all children, but to Amber in particular, was pulling at him. The fact that he and Jonas were more than fellow soldiers, that they were close friends, played a large part as well.

She watched the claws retract within the tips of Jonas’s fingers, barely holding back a shudder when nothing showed but the normal nail now, and the bloody cuticles. He wiped his hand over his face and moved back to his mate, taking her in his arms before turning back to Lawe.

“We all need to hear the plan,” Callan stated. “And trust me, Diane, it will be vetoed if it puts you at risk in any way. Are we clear on that? I’m not your mate, and I can’t be swayed by your emotion.”

Diane glanced at Merinus, wondering if she had an ally there.

Merinus’s lips twitched. “Your sister is one of my dearest friends,” she said gently. “And I know my soul would shatter if anything happened to either of my babies. But know this, Diane, Callan and I have a trust I won’t break. As cruel, as inhuman and brutal as it sounds, Rachel can have other children. If Lawe loses you, though, then we lose not just you, but Lawe, and any children you may have.” She glanced at Rachel as the other woman turned her head into Jonas’s chest in grief, and her eyes flashed with sorrow. “Rachel and I have discussed this. If I ever feel there’s danger to either of you, then I swear, your mates will know about it.”

At that moment, Diane almost hated the other woman.

“Amber can never be replaced,” Diane assured the female alpha coldly. “Know this, all of you. If Amber dies because any of you stood in my way, or took this from me, then I swear I’ll make damned sure I make all of your lives hell.”

Merinus’s gentle expression never changed. “We never doubted that for a moment,” she breathed out roughly. “But it won’t change the fact that your and Rachel’s safety is paramount.”

“Then I need your assurance,” Diane demanded of them. “I want your vow that none of you will take it over and decide you can achieve your ends without me.”

She stared at Callan first, then Lawe and Jonas. They stared back at her, and she almost sneered. Oh, how well she knew Breeds. That thought had been uppermost in all their minds. She may be furious at them all, including her sister at the moment for even considering a continued friendship with the prima, but it didn’t make her stupid.

“You’ll have it.” It was Lawe who broke the silence. He turned to Diane. “As long as you’re in no immediate danger and as long as I’m confident you have a chance of survival, then the operation won’t be taken from you or interfered with in any way.”

She lifted her head, debating with herself, knowing that if any being on earth would keep his word, then it was Lawe. And in turn, Callan and Jonas. But none of them had ever been tested in such a way either.

She swallowed tightly. “There’re a few things I’ll need, and I’ll need your patience.”

“Let’s hear it first.” Callan and Merinus resumed their seats at the table as Diane, Lawe, Jonas and Rachel followed suit.

Diane hadn’t expected such easy compliance, she had to admit. She’d expected threats, anger, and when all else failed, she’d expected Jonas to trump all other means of convincing her by using her love for Rachel or, worse for Lawe, against her. Hell, she’d even been prepared to continue to play the silent warrior while Thor, Emma and Sharone tracked down information.

She knew a few things about Breed law. She knew her refusal had broken several statutes, which could result in her and Lawe’s imprisonment if it were pushed. And it would have been, if it weren’t for the fact that the babe in question belonged to Jonas. If not by blood, then by love.

“The past two days I haven’t just been sitting on my ass. Thor, with Emma and Sharone, using the guise of searching for Council Coyotes, has been gathering information. Rumor, suspicion and discussions held behind closed doors but not out of Sharon’s ability to hear from a window, a door or other hidden means, has come through. The group responsible for protecting Honor, Fawn and Judd doesn’t even have a name,” Diane warned them. “At least not one I’ve been able to learn. What I have learned is that Judd, Fawn and Honor weren’t the first or the last children to have disappeared with an anonymous group of men disguised by war paint. There have been others. Children who were brought to them, even before the rescues began, as well as at least one hybrid whose mother was killed, and whose father was fatally wounded.”

“Why not come to us?” Callan growled, anger and concern filling his face now.

Diane shook her head. “Not all Breeds trust either Sanctuary or Haven,” she reminded him. “The spies found within both bases pose a risk to those Breeds who were created for special purposes or who were already a part of political or private enterprises the Council considered long-term goals. They’re Breeds that, for whatever reason, couldn’t afford ever to be identified as Breeds. Then”—she breathed in deeply—“there are the missing children. The six that a Breed known as Harmony Lancaster had locations for, but they had disappeared before your teams could get to them. Hybrid babes who were taken from their mothers’ bodies then stolen from the labs were smuggled or kidnapped from supposedly secured labs and disappeared almost immediately. There are dozens, Callan, and those are just the ones I know of. I’m certain there are far more actually in existence.”

Thor, Emma and Sharone had managed to unearth secrets even Diane hadn’t suspected until now.

Both Rachel and Merinus covered their lips in both horror and hope as she spoke. The fates of those children were always on their minds, and the discovery of their whereabouts was considered top priority since the day the First Leo had informed them the girls had disappeared just days before his teams had arrived.

“How long has this group been operating?” Jonas’s eyes narrowed, his displeasure that such an operation existed without him clearly outlined in his expression.

She licked her lips, nervous about giving this piece of information.

“If you want me to keep my word, Diane, then we have to know everything,” Lawe stated harshly.

“It’s not the information itself that’s problematic, it’s the Breed behind it.” She sighed.

Jonas lips tightened. “Should I guess?”

She had a feeling he would be right.

“My intel says Leo Vanderale may have been the force behind the creation of the group,” she informed them. “I do know he’s put out feelers for information since Brandenmore injected Amber with the serum but to no avail. One of my contacts told me that no one who has come onto Navajo land searching for missing Breed children or adults, has left it to report anything. They’ve disappeared just as quickly and just as completely as the children do.”

Lawe sat back in his chair slowly, his gaze narrowing on her.

“And how do you intend to accomplish your objective without disappearing as well?” He flashed his canines dangerously.

“They won’t risk making me disappear.” She shook her head, positive it wouldn’t happen. “There are too many Breeds here, I’m too well known and by now they’re going to be aware I’m your mate. They won’t dare touch me.”

The Navajo wanted to preserve the Breeds, ensure their survival and make certain that women, especially Breed women and mated wives, were well taken care of. Mates such as Megan Fields Arness and the one married to the New Mexico sheriff, Harmony Jacobs. That one, Diane believed, was the mysterious Harmony Lancaster who had disappeared several years before and at one time suspected to be the Breed assassin known as “Death.”

“My original question then.” Lawe’s brow arched mockingly. “How do you intend to succeed?”

“By discussing the situation with three members of the community who I believe may have information or know someone who has information,” she stated. “They may not tell me a damn thing, but I believe they have to know either Fawn or Honor, and they have to know who they are.”

They stared back at her silently, and in her sister’s eyes, Diane saw hope for the child they all cherished.

“Malachi’s mate, Isabelle, her sister Chelsea, and their friend Liza,” she stated. “Isabelle was at home and old enough to remember her father bringing those kids in. I’m betting she saw them and perhaps also saw who picked them up. Chelsea Martinez and Liza are her best friends, but even more than that, they’re a part of the Martinez family and they work with the Navajo Council, specifically with three of the men I suspect are part of the network. Terran, Ray and Orrin Martinez. I’m certain that at least one of the members of the Navajo Council heads the child rescue team. And if that’s true, then at least one of the girls has to know it. Those three work closely with all of them. And I’m betting it’s either Chelsea or Liza. If it were Isabelle, her mate would have asked her, and he would have given you that information if she had it.”

“She says she doesn’t have it.” Callan nodded. “We’ve met with her. But she’s hiding something. We can sense it, scent it. Even Malachi is aware that there’s something Isabelle is not telling in regard to the information we need.”

Surprised, she glanced at Jonas. It wasn’t like him to allow anyone to hold information back from him, especially someone he could use Breed Law against.

“I’d prefer to extinguish all options before using Breed Law against her,” he said with a weary sigh. “I’d hate like hell to make an enemy of Malachi. But he knows the danger of it is there if she continues to refuse to tell us what she knows.”

Diane stared at Jonas thoughtfully for long moments before speaking. “I doubt she knows enough to be of any help,” she stated gently, her heart going out to him as well as to the newly mated Isabelle Martinez who must be feeling the brunt of Breed Law beating at her brain.

Malachi understood too well the consequences if those two girls weren’t found. They had to know what Amber was facing so they could combat it and hopefully ensure her safety.

Callan rubbed at his jaw before breathing out roughly. “That’s my thought as well,” he finally stated. “The scent of her deceit isn’t strong enough to indicate vital knowledge. But it could be enough to lead us to someone who knows more. The fact that she’s hiding it, and refuses to tell even her mate, does concern me though.”